Hands-On Apple 204: Browsing With Spotlight in macOS Tahoe

Host: Micah Sargent
Podcast: All TWiT.tv Shows (Audio) / Hands-On Apple
Date: October 16, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Micah Sargent gives a comprehensive walkthrough of the powerful new browsing features of Spotlight in macOS Tahoe. Building on the previous episode's coverage of searching with Spotlight, Micah demonstrates the enhanced capabilities for accessing apps, files, actions, and clipboard history—all from the Spotlight interface, using both keyboard shortcuts and mouse navigation. The discussion focuses on how Spotlight has evolved into a central hub for app launching, document management, workflow shortcuts, and clipboard handling, making it an indispensable tool for Mac users.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Accessing Spotlight & Basic Navigation

[02:26–03:10]

• Multiple ways to launch Spotlight:
  • Click on the menu bar icon
  • Keyboard shortcut: Command + Spacebar (Micah's preferred method)
• New Spotlight extends beyond search—it now serves as a central “browsing” interface.

“Now, today we're talking about the browsing features of Spotlight. So last time we talked about how to search with Spotlight... Now Spotlight becomes even more powerful and capable, letting you access apps, actions, files, and clipboard all from Spotlight.”
— Micah Sargent [02:50]

2. Browsing Apps in Spotlight

[03:10–05:45]

• Access methods:
  • Command + 1: Directly opens applications browse view
  • Right Arrow Key: Cycles through the four browse categories; hit Enter to select
• Features:
  • Apps are categorized by usage and type (e.g., Utilities, Developer Tools, Productivity)
  • Quick filtering by typing
  • Heaviest-use apps appear first (e.g., 1Password, System Settings)
  • Seamless integration: If iPhone Mirroring is enabled, can browse and launch apps from your iPhone

“It's actually going to categorize your apps based on how you use them and the categories to which they belong… Shows the ones that I use the most at the top... Underneath, listed alphabetically… I can quickly just view the utilities I have installed.” — Micah Sargent [04:20]

3. Browsing Files with Spotlight

[06:05–08:15]

• Access method:
  • Command + 2: Opens files browser
• Features:
  • Displays recent files and intelligent suggestions based on recent activity
  • Filter files by type or the app used (e.g., Preview, PDFs, TextEdit)
  • Categories reflect your personal usage patterns (e.g., Google Drive, TextEdit, Preview)
• Viewing options:
  • Access the More menu (three dots) to switch between grid and list views; list view includes mini-previews

“Personally, I'm a list person... Has a little icon next to it with a preview of what the document is.”
— Micah Sargent [07:50]

4. Browsing & Using Actions

[08:15–10:18]

• Access method:
  • Command + 3: Brings up Actions
• Overview:
  • Huge range of Actions—some are macOS built-ins, others are Apple Shortcuts
  • Examples: Send Messages, Start Timer, Create Note, Send Email
  • Application-specific actions (e.g., Finder: Connect to Server, Create/Rename/Move/Delete files; Books: Open collection or play audiobook)
  • Preview for next week's episode: More on customizing Actions and using Quick Keys

“This is a really cool category because there are hundreds of options for setting actions on your Mac. And with each of these, you can set up something called a quick key...”
— Micah Sargent [08:55]

5. Clipboard Browsing & Management

[10:18–13:38]

• Access method:
  • Command + 4: Opens Clipboard
• Features:
  • Full clipboard manager showing history of copied items: text, files, images, URLs, etc.
  • Paste any item from Clipboard directly into open documents with arrow keys + Enter
  • More menu lets you:
    • Clear clipboard history
    • Adjust privacy settings (exclude apps, set expiration for clipboard history—default: 8 hours)
• Use Cases:
  • Quickly paste previous text or images into documents
  • Clipboard history preserves rich content, not just plain text

“It's not just text, it's also files. And what's cool about this is... I can easily take text that I copied and move down with the arrow key and hit return to immediately paste it into my TextEdit document.”
— Micah Sargent [11:55]

• Privacy Note:

“Personal and sensitive information may appear in search results. So that's just something to bear in mind and gives you the ability to say, actually, I don't want that to show up on Clipboard so you can turn that off if that's a feature that you're not interested in.”
— Micah Sargent [13:05]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Spotlight’s transformation:
  • “Spotlight becomes even more powerful and capable, letting you access apps, actions, files, and clipboard all from Spotlight.”
    — [02:54]
• On keyboard shortcuts vs. mouse:
  • “I'm a big keyboard user, keyboard shortcut user, and so that's the way that I'll be doing it.”
    — [05:26]
• Describing the value of Clipboard history:
  • “If you copied a link earlier on and then you were moving about... suddenly, oh no, I copied something new. I don't remember what that link was. Don't worry, Clipboard has it there in the Clipboard history.”
    — [10:44]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Spotlight navigation overview: [02:26–03:10]
• Browsing Apps: [03:10–05:45]
• Browsing Files: [06:05–08:15]
• Actions in Spotlight: [08:15–10:18]
• Clipboard Manager: [10:18–13:38]
• Privacy settings in Clipboard: [13:05–13:38]
• Episode outro and teaser for next week: [13:38]

Closing / Next Episode Teaser

Micah wraps up by promising that the next episode will go “all in” on Spotlight Actions, including how to create and personalize them and use Quick Keys for even more efficient Mac workflows.

“Next week we'll take a look at Spotlight actions, including creating and personalizing your actions, as well as quick keys to give you even more power on your Mac with just a few quick keyboard movements.”
— Micah Sargent [13:38]

Summary:
This episode serves as a practical guide for Mac users eager to maximize productivity using the enhanced Spotlight in macOS Tahoe. Micah’s step-by-step explanations, along with demonstration of shortcuts and thoughtfully integrated privacy controls, empower listeners to streamline everyday tasks on their Mac—setting the stage for even more power-user tips in the upcoming episode.